Things to know on the anniversary of D-Day

Tuesday

Jun 6, 2017 at 1:18 PMJun 6, 2017 at 1:18 PM

Caitlyn Kelleher Director of Multimedia @CMKelleher

Seventy-three years ago today, the United States and its military allies launched their offensive against the German army. Operation Overlord — better known as the invasion of Normandy or D-Day — was what many considered the turning point of World War II. More than 156,000 troops, mostly from America, the United Kingdom and Canada landed on five beaches in northwest France.

Here are four things you should know about D-Day.

1 156,000 landed and more than 4,400 died

Seventy-three thousand American forces landed in France — 23,250 of them on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops. In the British and Canadian sector, 83,115 troops landed — 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach and 7,900 airborne troops.

There were 11,590 aircrafts available to support the landing troops.

In the five days that followed, more than 325,547 troops had landed in France with 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies.

In the past few years, the United States National D-Day Memorial Foundation has tried to record an accurate number of casualties on D-Day. The foundation has verified 2,499 American fatalities and 1,914 fatalities from other allied nations.

According to the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England: “Historian Joseph Balkowski, who lists casualties unit-by-unit, gives these casualty figures:

With more than 10,000 U.S. service members killed or missing in action on June 6, 1944, or in the days that followed, the United States Army started a temporary cemetery on the bluffs overlooking Omaha Beach on June 8. The permanent cemetery remained at that location and was dedicated in 1956.

Among the 9,387 U.S. service members buried in the U.S. military cemetery in Normandy, France, 411 of them enlisted in Massachusetts. Most of those who are buried there lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. The cemetery covers 172.5 acres.

See which Massachusetts residents are buried at Normandy American Cemetery.

3 What happened after D-Day?

The goal of D-Day was to liberate France and then to attack Germany. By the end of June 6, the Americans held fragile control of Omaha Beach. On Gold, Juno and Sword, British and Canadian divisions forged ahead. In less than a week, the Allies linked the beachhead. Over the next three months, the Allies battled German troops throughout Normandy.

4 Watch the 73rd anniversary memorial at the National D-Day Memorial

The memorial to the American D-Day veterans is in Bedford, Virginia. It is located in this rural southwestern Virginia community because on June 6, 1944, 34 Virginia National Guard soldiers from this town of about 3,900 died on D’Day. Four more soldiers died during the Normandy Campaign. The memorial opened in 2001.

The story of Bedford was chronicled in the book “Bedford Boys,” which served as an inspiration for the movie “Saving Private Ryan.” The town suffered the highest number of deaths per capita in a single campaign during World War II in the United States.

Sources: The D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England; the American Battle Monuments Commission; the National WWII Museum in New Orleans; and the National D-Day Memorial.